Star talks of Tykes battle - exclusive

Barnsley, usually excellent at home, will be more than up for the game after drubbing Wednesday at Hillsborough with only ten men but losing to a late Chris Brunt goal.

But Bullen thinks that Wednesday's fantastic away support will spur them on although the match itself will be mightily difficult.

“It's brilliant,” Bullen told Footymad about Wednesday's travelling support. “It sold out quite early and our fans will rock the place up there at Oakwell. It doesn't matter thought where we are in the league and where they are because form always goes out of the window in local games like this.

“We will go up there and we have to be confident of taking three points but we will definitely be respecting Barnsley because if we think we are going to get an automatic win, we'll get our backsides slapped and could end up losing the game. We have to go there with the right mental attitude and that could be the biggest problem for us on the day.”

The Scotsman knows Barnsley's capabilities but also acknowledges that The Owls have improved since the last time the two teams met.

He added: “At Hillsborough, Barnsley played very good, attacking and open football and to be fair to them, I think we got out of jail with a late winner so we are aware in where their strengths are but I think we have improved ten fold since that game. The boys have a lot more confidence in their abilities and we are playing a lot higher tempo.”

Wade Small could make the bench after returning successfully from an operation but the rest of the side should remain unchanged although Brian Laws must decide who will start in Steve MacLean or Deon Burton – both who scored against Stoke last time out.